Rise of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 020 - What's in the vault (Patreon)

Herb stopped in the hallway, putting his palm on a black twelve-by-twelve-inch stone block that was recessed in the wall.  The hallway was like every other one except for a row of black stones lining the middle.  Dim light from the orbs filled the wide hallway as Kaen stood near Herb, wondering what would come next.

Moments after his hand was placed on the panel, a grinding noise began, and a stone doorway appeared next to it.

“How many of these doors are there?”

Chuckling, Herb grinned as he waited for the door to move, sliding sideways into the wall after moving back some.

“I cannot share the complete truth but know that there are more doors here than you can imagine.  Endless vaults were built back in the great days of Ebonmount, and if your academy produces the number of recruits, we hope it might in a generation, I may have to order more to be built.”

When the stone door had disappeared into the wall, a small hallway led to a metal door with a dragon engraved on it.

Herb motioned at the door.

“You’re up,” he stated, moving back and flashing a grin.

The door loomed larger than life, though it was only about ten feet tall and five feet wide.  He could only imagine why it was so much bigger than the others.  The door had a silver sheen to it, but he knew it wasn’t silver.  The dragon on the door had a circular hole in its body in the middle of the door.  Pulling the disc out, he felt it in his hand it swore it tingled.

You are at the door, I can tell.

Bobbing his head, Kaen grinned.

I wish you could see this… I mean, this door is amazing, and all I know is something is behind it that Elies felt I should have.

Well, stop wasting time and let me know what you find.

Grunting, tried to put the disc on the circular spot, but it wouldn’t stick or do anything.  He looked at it and realized he was putting it dragon-side out.  Turning the disc over, he put it back against the spot, and it clicked as it stuck to the spot.  It began to turn, making a full rotation until the human image was facing its head up.  A popping noise sounded, and the door shook free from the wall.

“You ready,” Kaen asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Herb, who was shifting his head from side to side, hoping to see something.

“More than you know!”

Nodding, Kaen pressed on the door, and it swung open without any effort.  As the door opened, lights flickered and turned on in the room.

The room was as large as the inside of Sulenda’s inn.  Rows of weapon racks stood empty; armor pedestals were nothing more than wooden stands.  Cases had nothing in them.

“It’s empty,” Herb murmured as he came to stand next to Kaen.

“No, it’s not,” he replied as he pointed at the end of the room. “Look down there.”

Both of them started walking across the stone floors.  There were no rugs, no tapestries, no decorations.  The room appeared like an empty armory.

“Why would this be empty?” Kaen asked as he glanced around the room.  “It looks like it should be filled with stuff.”

“This has been here for a thousand years,” Herb replied, his voice low and almost muted.  “No one but a dragon rider has been in it that I am aware of.”

Kaen heard the disappointment in Herb’s voice.  He felt it, too.  His eyes focused on the rectangular standing box and the item on the ground next to it.

Both were covered by a cloth of some sort, hiding what was under them.

Herb slowed down, letting Kaen finish the last few yards by himself.

Standing before the cloth, he hesitated.  What would be here that Elies felt he would need?

I’m still waiting.  This isn’t fair…

Ignoring Pammon and his frustration, Kaen grabbed the cloth and pulled it down from its hiding container.

His chest tightened, and he felt it hard to breathe as the covering fell to the floor.

There, on an armor stand, hidden behind a metal and glass box, was something words would fail to describe.

“Is that…”

His voice cracked as he asked what he couldn’t believe it was.

“Dragon armor,” Herb answered, even though the question wasn’t for him.  His voice was like a whisper.

What is it?! Demanded Pammon as he felt the awe and disbelief washing over him from Kaen.  Tell me!

It’s armor… Made with dragon scales… it’s beautiful.

Not many things shocked Pammon anymore, but Kaen could feel that his words had caused Pammon to experience it now.

From a dragon? What color is it?

Kaen moved forward and ran his hand along the glass, looking for some way to open the case.

Small scales were woven somehow underneath larger scales.  Where the joints for movement were, the tiniest scales, no bigger than his thumb, were woven together, appearing to allow for one to bend and flex without issue.  He realized why Elies had never worn this suit.  It was too big for him but should fit him almost perfectly.

There are different color scales.  A giant red scale sits on the center breastplate with a dragon emblem on it.  The shoulders have a gold scale on each corner and the hands have a silver or green scale on the top.  The knee pieces are purple, I think.  The rest of the set is black scales.  There is even a helmet made with black scales as well.

Pammon said nothing else, but Kaen sensed that he was still in shock.  Giving up one’s scale like that would mean something, and both knew it had to be well over a thousand years old.

“Kaen, do you realize what this is?”

“I have no idea what this is, but if I guessed, it's something created just for dragon riders.  Tell me what you know.”

His fingers drummed against the glass as he considered punching it or using his sword on it.  Even as he spoke with Herb, his mind struggled not to attempt something he knew would not work.  It seemed to call to him, wanting to be worn.

“That is one of the original Dragon Rider’s armors,” he informed Kaen as he struggled to keep his voice from spiking.  “The armor depicted in the rare paintings that are kept within guild halls and treasure rooms for kings.  I have only seen one picture in my entire life, and it showed a warrior of old and his dragon.  He was wearing one of those.”

The way Herb was speaking sounded like he was almost in a trance as he remembered what he had seen and knew.

“Pull the cloth on the item next to it!”

Having forgotten about that object, Kaen reached down and yanked off the smaller cloth, gasping when he saw what was under it.

“A shield… a dragon scale shield…” he stated as he bent down and picked it up.

A single brown scale that was over four feet tall and almost three feet wide was set with straps to attach to one arm.  No handle to hold the shield. Instead, it would allow it to be used with any weapon or bow.

“Why did Elies leave this?” Herb demanded.  “He should have worn this when he faced Stioks!”

Ignoring Herb’s question, Kaen felt the shield's power as he held it out before his face.  He doubted anything he threw at it right now would even scratch it.

His thumbs rubbed the scale on both sides, wondering how old the dragon must have been to make a scale this size.

“I don’t think he could get it out of the glass.  When I touch it, something is stopping me from being stupid and trying to smash it with my fist.”

Turning around, Kaen saw Herb looking up at him, shaking his head with a look he had not seen before.

“I…”

Herb stopped what he was going to say, moved up next to Kaen, and motioned at the glass case with his hand.

“Touch it,” Kaen stated as he flipped the shield around and started to strap it to his arm.

Even though it appeared this had been in the vault for a long time, the straps moved with no cracks or stiffness.  It felt like it had been just serviced and prepared for battle.

Slowly, Herb reached out, and as his finger got close to the glass, a zap was heard, and a small spark lept from the case, causing him to flinch and recoil as he held his finger in his other hand.

“Holy mother of goblin shite!” Herb cursed as he shook his hand from the pain he was feeling.

“It shocked you,” Kaen stated, even though it was obvious.  “I wonder why it didn’t shock me.”

“Really? You wonder?” Herb asked as he glared at Kaen.  “It somehow knows you are a dragon rider, and I am not.  The real question is, how do you open it?”

Finished buckling the shield on, Kaen motioned for Herb to back up.

“Let me try something stupid,” he stated with a grin.

Moving back a few yards, Herb waited to see if Kaen was really going to attempt what he thought was about to happen.

Moving back a few feet, Kaen held the shield out before him and lunged at the case.  When the shield came in contact with the glass, Kaen was stopped as if he had run face-first into the wall.  A grunt escaped his throat as his movement was halted completely.

Snorting, Kaen shrugged his shoulder as he checked the scale shield.

“I guess that would have been too easy.”

Chuckling, Herb nodded as he rejoined Kaen at the case.

“So what will you do?”

Turning and smiling at Herb, he tapped the shield and motioned toward the door they came through.

“I’ll keep this for now and figure out another day what we can do to get inside that.  Right now, I need to get some food, shower, and start working on a few more things I have in mind.”

Sighing, Herb nodded and turned to leave the room.

“Who would have believed it,” he said with a slight groan.  “One of the greatest treasures for a dragon rider in our guild hall, and no way to access it.”

Laughing, Kaen increased his stride, caught up to Herb, and paused momentarily, reached out and messed up Herb’s hair as he had seen Hess do so many times.

“Bah, stop that!” he yelped playfully.  “I finally got used to Hess not doing that anymore.  I don’t need you starting that.”

Feigning innocence, Kaen waved his hands in surrender as Herb glared at him playfully.

Fixing his hair, Herb pointed at the disc when they passed the door.

“Don’t forget that, and whatever you do, don’t lose it.  I don’t want to have to wait to produce another one of those.”

That is very impressive, Pammon stated as he ran his talon across the shield.  I cannot scratch it.

“Think you should try and hit it a little harder?”

Pammon’s thrum shook him a little as his dragon shook his head at him and rolled his eyes.

Why would I want to do that?  Sounds like a risky thing for you to attempt.

Glancing around the courtyard, Kaen turned back to Pammon and smiled.

Inspect Dragon Shield

*****

Dragon Shield - + 5 to all stats.  Steadfast.  Impenetrable.

*****

I inspected it and wanted to see what the steadfast thing meant.  Besides, you know what my stats are right now.  I can take the hit, provided you don’t go all out on me.

Just because you are over forty in strength and constitution does not mean I should attempt to hurt you.  What happens if I injure you?  Imagine how bad I would feel.

Stop whining and just do it.

Grumbling, Pammon turned and snorted, getting a few feet between them and setting himself in a position for a solid strike.

Remember, you asked for this.  I don’t want to hear about this later.

Setting his feet and preparing for what he knew was coming, Kaen lifted the shield up and braced himself.

Go for it!

After one last snort, Pammon lifted up his front claw and swiped at Kaen, striking the shield with a solid hit,

Kaen grunted as he slid back a few feet but never gave up any real ground.

Pammon blinked a few times as he saw Kaen smiling at him.

That should not have happened!

How hard did you try to hit me?

Pammon thrummed for a moment as the frustration he felt at not seeing Kaen get knocked across the courtyard answered that question.

You tried to launch me across the yard!

Yes… I did.  I wanted to teach you a lesson…  Now, I will try harder.

Sensing what Pammon was about to do, Kaen braced himself even more, digging his feet into the ground and bending his knees.  He leaned into the attack as he saw Pammon swipe with intent the shield.

When his talons connected with the shield, Pammon drove through the strike, causing Kaen to slide back about eight feet.

IMPOSSIBLE!  You should have been knocked clean across the courtyard!

Why would you do that? Demanded Kaen as he started flinching his shoulders and arms.  He had felt the force and felt it wash through him.  The shield had somehow absorbed all that impact and barely sent any through him like he had expected.  If the steadfast effect provided this kind of protection, it would change so many things.  He could easily go toe to toe with some of the larger orcs now and not fear the impact of their swings.

Glancing at Pammon, he saw him snorting in frustration.

It’s good to know you got serious.  Now, we just need to figure out how to get inside that container.  I can only imagine what the rest of the armor will offer.